


Auryn

by carmen_sandyeggo



Series: Households [1]
Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Bisexuality, Established Relationship, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Timeline What Timeline, what am I doing here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27168778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmen_sandyeggo/pseuds/carmen_sandyeggo
Summary: A collection of ficlets and one shots of Miguel Diaz and Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Relationships: Miguel Diaz/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Series: Households [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983133
Comments: 17
Kudos: 87





	1. Intermedio

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: all because i heard Hawk say el serpentino

Frequenting the South Seas apartment quickly turned into another place for Hawk to call home. He and Miguel didn’t need to be together for long to receive the warm embrace by Miguel’s mom and grandmother. They were accepting and supportive from the start which made feel Hawk secure about himself as well. If he wasn’t back home in Encino or at the dojo, it was a guarantee that he was at the Diaz’s. Things like this were inevitable; one of them being at their boyfriend’s house.

He was over so much that he picked up more and more Spanish with each visit it seemed. Every time Hawk was knocking at their door, Rosa always answered with her warm smile and an even warmer hug followed by a fast string of sentences in Spanish. _“Hi honey, come inside. Are you hungry? Would you like a snack? I made pineapple empanadas. I’ll bring them to you in Miggy’s room.”_

It didn’t matter that Hawk didn’t fully understand what she was saying. He picked up the few words he knew and strung them together to formulate was she was saying. He simply appreciated how she treated him, “Ah, thank you Ms. Diaz – “

_“Hey!”_ She interrupts him with a light tap to his shoulder, finger pointing at him, _“I told you to call me Rosa or Ya-Ya.”_

Smiling, he holds his hands up placatingly, “Sorry, Ya-Ya,” he corrects himself, “I’d love some.” Satisfied with his answer, she sends him off to Miguel’s room with a wink.

Even though she was fluent in English, part of Hawk felt like he should answer her in Spanish since she had a clear preference. It was the manner of respect he wanted to exchange with her in her home, which motivated him to do better in Spanish class by studying more and immersing himself into the language. If he could learn code and BASIC, he could learn another (non-computer) language. 

Hawk fidgets with his assignment, crumpling the paper with how tightly he holds the spiral notebook. He hesitates to ask for Miguel’s help, worried about what he wrote being wrong or sounding dumb. Or worse, having to answer the slew of questions Miguel would have for him out of left field. “Have you been practicing? Why? You did this for me and my family?” Hawk knew Miguel would find it, _romantic_ , or whatever – not exactly the image Hawk had in mind for himself except for when they were alone

“Hey, can you look this over for me?” Hawk asks Miguel during study hall. “I think it’s right, but I could use some help from Mr. Honor Roll.” he smirks, handing his notebook over.

Miguel grins, taking the notebook as his answer. He glances down at the page and flinches in surprise, “Is this Spanish one?” He asks, brows furrowed and eyes skimming over the sentences. “This is more Spanish three stuff.” He looks over at Hawk, “I thought you were still in the introduction class?”

“As a junior?” Hawk asks inquisitively.

“You only need level two to for graduation requirements.” Miguel points out.

“Will you just read it over?” Hawk sighs.

“Uh – right. Sorry,” Miguel says, brows still knotted and silently mouthing the words as he reads it over carefully. Hawk chews anxiously on his thumb as he watches Miguel twirl his pencil in his hand, ready to make whatever corrections. Miguel’s expression relaxes the more he reads, and the dimple in his cheek shows as his cheesy smile begins to form across his face, making Hawk’s nervousness grow exponentially.

He brings his hand down and drums his fingers on the table, “So? It is okay?” He asks.

Miguel puts the notebook down and looks up at him with a broad smile, “You wrote about how you spend your weekends at my house?” He asks. He was truly touched by Hawk’s words.

“Oh c’mon don’t look at me like that,” Hawk laugh nervously, “you’re making my cheeks hurt with that grin.”

“Oh c’mon don’t be like that,” Miguel mimics playfully. “This is good! I’m – flattered. And impressed!” He insists, bumping his shoulder into Hawk’s to ease his embarrassment.

Hawk dips his head and rubs the back of his neck, smiling shyly. “You think so?” He asks. “It can’t be perfect.” He doubts.

“Eh there’s a few things here and there, but for this class it should be fine.” Miguel admits, twirling his pencil rapidly. He reviews a few parts he thought needed some rewording with explanation and circles them for Hawk to fix.

“Thanks. I have to memorize it by next week for my speech presentation.” Hawk explains to him, putting his notebook back into his bag.

Miguel rests his chin in his hand, “Yeah, no problem,” he replies, trying his best to conceal his smile behind his curled fingers.

Hawk’s saved from further embarrassment by the bell dismissing them from study hall and off to their next class. “See you in bio later.” Miguel tells Hawk as they shoulder their belongings.

“Yeah see you later.” Hawk leans in and gives Miguel an unexpected peck on the cheek. They weren’t too big on PDA beyond the hand holding or the intimacy that took place in their bedrooms. But seeing how much Miguel practically beamed, Hawk didn’t see the harm in giving him a kiss.

It took what felt like ages for Miguel to pry Hawk’s true intentions with this whole Spanish thing. It was so unexpected that Miguel couldn’t help but be curious about it all. He supposed it made sense for Hawk to want to learn with how much he was surrounded by it, especially at his place. But with a sworn vow, Miguel doesn’t tell his mom or Ya-Ya about what was up is boyfriend’s sleeve. Although it was torture keeping this secret to himself, he didn’t want to spoil Hawk’s surprise.

Friday nights were specially reserved for Hawk to share dinner with the Diaz family and watch whatever soccer or baseball game that was on. Which was why he waited until this Friday night to put his hard work to converse with Rosa. He knew it would be okay no matter what or what Rosa thought of the sentiment, but it didn’t stop him from feeling nervous. What if he messed up or said the wrong word or mispronounced something?

“Stop being a bitch, Eli,” he told himself, shaking off his nerves. “You’re acing Spanish. You got this.” He knocks on the door and shoves his hands into his front pockets to help ease his nerves.

The door creaks open revealing Miguel’s mom, “Hi Hawk,” she smiles, “come on in. You’re just in time for dinner.”

“Hi Ms. Diaz,” Hawk greets, stepping into the apartment.

“Miggy’s in the bathroom washing his hands. You can use the sink in the kitchen.” She points with her hand.

He see’s Rosa in the kitchen stirring the food in the pan, _“Hi honey, how are you? I hope you’re hungry. I made your favorite, Churrasco.”_

_“Hi Ya-Ya,”_ Hawk says, stepping into the kitchen and looking over the stove full of hot delicious food, _“It looks delicious. I can’t wait to eat.”_

Rosa looks at him with a surprised smile on her face, _“Your pronunciation is perfect. Have you been practicing? Carmen, did you hear him just now?”_ She says, putting the wooden spoon down, clearly impressed.

_“Yes,”_ Hawk nods, _“I’ve been working hard to improve my Spanish so I can speak with you not in English only.”_ He explains to her shyly.

Rosa can’t help but bring him in for a tight hug, patting his back and thanking him for being to thoughtful and sweet. She went on about how it was unnecessary for him to do that for her but seeing how she didn’t let him go from her embrace, Eli knew that it meant a great deal than she was leading on.

When Miguel comes into the front room and sees his Ya-Ya giving him her bone crushing hug, he figures Hawk must’ve gone through with his surprise. Carmen walks over to him, “Did you know about this?” She asks him. She too looked moved by Hawk’s gesture.

“Yeah,” Miguel answers her.

Carmen crosses her arms, smiling in disbelief that he had kept it from her, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Miguel shrugs, “He wanted to surprise you guys. I didn’t want to ruin it and take that away from him,” he tells her. “I only found out recently myself. He’s been working really hard to really get it down.”

“Yeah I can tell,” Carmen says looking back at her mom and her son’s boyfriend. She can’t remember the last time her mom looked so happy, and by something like this. “What made him want to learn?” She asks out of curiosity.

“He comes over a lot and…with Ya-Ya and watching Spanish TV – I guess he wanted to understand it all.” Miguel knew this to be partly true. The way Hawk had avoided eye contact when asked what other reasons he was making such an effort was enough to tell Miguel this was something deeper than initially explained. He thought that, maybe, Hawk wanted to show how serious he was about their relationship in his own way. That maybe he wanted to demonstrate how much he regarded Miguel’s love for his family and how much they mean to him. He hears them converse back and forth, both smiling at this new connection formed between them. It was nice to see Eli like this; being his sweet thoughtful-self Miguel knew him to be.

Carmen sees that familiar look in her son’s eyes – that look of adoring and falling in love with someone. She steps in and wraps her arm around him, “I’m happy for you to have someone like him. Not many people do things for those they truly care about like he’s doing right now.” She tells him, nodding her head over at them lost in their conversation. “C’mon, let’s go eat. Hm?”

Miguel nudges Hawk as they all take their seats at the table. After Rosa prays, she asks Hawk if he understood what she said, still in disbelief this bright young man learned a whole new language so quickly. Hawk laughs and promises her that if he doesn’t understand something that he will ask her for an explanation. She squeezes his hand and simply nods. Looking to Carmen she asks, _“Maybe he can teach Johnny, huh?”_ She jokes, making everyone at the table laugh.

As the night went on, Miguel remained unusually quiet. Listening to Hawk switch back and forth from Spanish to English and back to Spanish was strangely satisfying. It was as if things had always been this way. Miguel felt a swell of pride and fondness for the other teen. Hawk didn’t necessarily _need_ to do all of this for him or for Ya-Ya. Even if it were for himself, the purpose it carried presented a great weight in meaning to the Diaz’s than Hawk may realize.

Miguel couldn’t take his eyes of Eli for the rest of the night, which eventually did not go unnoticed by his boyfriend. Hawk’s ears turn pink and he laughs nervously, “What is it?” he asks. Miguel had his arm around him as they sat on the couch together watching the game on TV. He lifts his hand to cradle Hawk’s undercut.

“Nothing.” He simply says, shaking his head. He knew if he told Hawk what he was thinking and how he felt in that moment that his boyfriend would self-combust. In their own silent way of understanding one another, Hawk knew Miguel wanted to say more. To tell him things he’s heard before, but in a more sincere and serious kind of tone. Not caring for the third degree of embarrassment his Ya-Ya would give him, Miguel leans in and tenderly kisses Eli on the cheek, and re-wraps his arm around his shoulder, bringing him in close as they finish watching the game together.


	2. Run Nerd.exe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: they argue & make up

Miguel really couldn’t understand why Hawk was so upset right now. Everything had been fine up until he had given him his gift. They sat in the car in uncomfortable silence. Miguel was pissed off, annoyed, and hurt over how Hawk had reacted like that. At first he thought he was joking, but the longer Hawk had stared at him with his jaw clenching and cold hard stare, he knew that Hawk had taken offense over it.

“You’re being undoubtedly unreasonable,” Miguel comments. He’s trying his best to speak calmly despite his demeanor.

“Are you serious right now?” Hawk rolls his eyes. “You _know_ I don’t want anything to do with this nerd shit, and yet you go ahead and pull something like this like some sort of joke.”

“It’s not a joke!” Miguel snaps at Hawk, raising his voice and immediately taking back how he responded. He takes a calmly breath, “Look,” he starts, “I know you _say_ that you don’t like this anymore, but I also know you’re full of shit, babe.”

Hawk doesn’t want to hear it. He scoffs and shakes his head, looking out the window.

“I don’t understand how you can’t still enjoy the things you used to like _while_ being who you are now,” Miguel explains. “I like Deadpool! I’m reading several story lines, I still like watching the animated series, and I’m fucking stoked to do my cosplay of him at this years comic con. Does that make me a “fucking nerd”?”

“It’s not the _same,_ ” Hawk argues.

“Bullshit,” Miguel challenges, straightening up in his seat. “I love astronomy, I love to draw, I have posters of nerdy shit all over by room, I’m on the honor roll, I know a lot about computers – not nearly as much as you but – having interest in a subject that’s been stereotyped as “nerdy” isn’t a bad thing, Hawk.” He says in one breath.

“Why do you hate this? I don’t understand.” Miguel points to the birthday bag with an open hand. Inside it were various items of all the things his boyfriend enjoyed. Before he became “Hawk”. A couple of Dr. Who comics, a Dobby Pop Funko doll, a pin of a falcon he had found when thrifting with Ya-ya; they were all things he had collected _for_ this occasion. He even managed to find an older Lovecraft book for the collection. Miguel had put a lot of thought and love into this and he was finding it extremely difficult not to call Hawk for what he was right now: a fucking _asshole._ He was so frustrated he wanted to cry.

It’s quiet again and Hawk knows he fucked up. He shouldn’t have gone off like that. He was so repulsed with his old self and with this obnoxious new mentality. It had been a struggle to really balance everything like Miguel. Not wanting to be old quiet, skittish Eli, not wanting to be full asshole like Kyler – but it seems he’s already achieved that. What makes matters worse though is that Miguel’s visibly upset. And he had done that. Way to go Hawk.

“I don’t – I don’t hate it,” Hawk sighs, unsure how to make sense of the nonsense rationale in his head. “I just…worry, that, I dunno, that I’ll revert back to who I was before. Back when I was no one. When I barely spoke, kept my head down, overthought every single thing around me…I don’t know how to do _both_ like you.”

Miguel subtly wipes at his eye as he readjusts himself in his seat, “You don’t need to be like me or anyone else. Just…be yourself,” he offers, trying to help Hawk understand.

“No, no I can’t,” Hawk appeals, worry and insecurity ready to remind him of all the negative shit he felt of why he could no longer allow himself to enjoy his past pass times.

Miguel turns to his side completely, grabbing Hawk by the shoulder, “Hey…look at me. Yes. You. _Can,_ ” he punctuates. “Babe – you have done _so_ much for yourself that you don’t give yourself credit for. You – you decided, what, that you wanted to learn how to stand up for yourself. What did you do? You joined Cobra Kai. When Sensei gave you shit about your scar, what’d you do? You flipped the script. You fucking stuck it out because you were _determined_ to do something for _yourself._ What could be more badass than that?

“And you’re _so_ smart. You know so much about computers, history, physics – you can explain shit to me like I’m five so I can understand. You – you can learn anything when you put your mind to it. It’s honestly the most attractive quality you have.” He adds, squeezing Hawk’s shoulder. “You’re so fun to hang out with. Whether is sparring, studying, partying, or having a Star Wars marathon…I love _all_ of that. I just wish you could see it. That – you should only care about what _you_ like and be around people who make you feel comfortable enough share your interests. I thought I could do that,” He drops his hand, feeling that pang of sadness and hurt, “but I guess not.”

 _Shit._ “Miguel, no,” Hawk stops him and reaches for his hand. Miguel doesn’t hold his back like he usually does and that makes Hawk start to panic. Like that he royally messed up and this would probably be it, “You _are_ that person. I dunno why I said all that shit before. I – I’m still trying to figure who I am. I know that’s lame and not really an excuse for what I did but…” Miguel is looking at him now and Hawk squeezes his hand, “I’m really sorry.”

Miguel was right about everything. Hawk had been so preoccupied in burying his old self that it had clouded his ability to appreciate how supportive and thoughtful Miguel has been this entire time while they’ve been together. There was no reason for him to prove himself while concealing other parts he had convinced himself were embarrassing.

A sigh leaves Miguel, “Yeah…I get it. It’s fine.” He shakes his head, forgiving the boy with a returned squeeze to his hand.

It wasn’t but Hawk knew Miguel was done talking about it for now. He returns his attention to the bag and reaches his free hand into it and pulls out the box containing the Dobby vinyl. “You know I always wanted one of these,” he says, “but do you take them out or keep them in the box?” His inner collector ponders. Miguel watches as each item is taken out and placed back in. He could tell Hawk genuinely liked everything he had picked out. Hawk looks to Miguel apologetically, “Thank you, babe.”

Miguel looks at him pointedly, “First you yell at me and now no kiss with that thank you?”

Hawk winces and chuckles nervously, “You want a kiss even after I was being a dickhead?” He didn’t think making a move would help matters.

“I told you,” Miguel slips his fingers between Hawk’s, “I get it. So, yeah, I want my kiss.” He insists, looking at him with affection in his eyes. “I think I deserve that.” He adds, laying on the guilt a little thick to get this way.

But Hawk just smiles and leans in, holding the back of Miguel’s head as he kisses him reverently. When it ends, Hawk rests his forehead against Miguel’s and looks into his eyes, “Thank you, I’m sorry.” He repeats with sincerity.

“Enough already,” Miguel whispers, giving Hawk another kiss. “Now take me inside so we can lay down in each other’s arms and take a nap.”

With a kiss, Hawk says, “Okay. Whatever you want.” When they go inside Hawk’s house, he lets Miguel decide where to put Dobby, not caring that he takes the figure out of the box, while he punches the pin into the fabric of his karate backpack. Once they settle in his bed, he indulges himself to the comics Miguel bought him while fast asleep on his chest, holding and reading the new storyline in one hand to the side not disturb him, and the brushing Miguel’s hair back repeatedly with the other.

 _This_ was that balance he’d been searching for.


	3. Awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: what if Hawk heard Rosa tell Johnny what not to do on his date with her daughter

Johnny was waiting for Carmen to finish up getting ready so they could head out on their date. As well as Hawk who waited for Miguel for the same reason. He was sitting at the table drinking a glass if juice Rosa had given him when he walked through the door. Johnny however preferred to stand.

_“_ _Don’t knock her up.”_ Ya-Ya warns Johnny, pointing her wooden spoon at him.

Juice shoots out of Hawk’s nose as he chokes in surprise from what Rosa had just said. “Whoa!” Johnny yells, flinching back from the outburst. “What the hell man?”

Hawk coughs uncontrollably to push out whatever liquid that he managed to inhale, and Ya-Ya slaps his back to help. She lifts her apron to wipe his face, _“I’m sorry, did I surprise you?”_ she asks, laughing. 

The boy’s brows shoot up and his eyes widen, nodding and coughing as he answers her. Once she’s done, she lightly slaps his cheeks and points in the direction of where the paper towels were kept so he can clean up the mess. He coughs and sniffles as tears sting his eyes in response to the burning sensation in his nose.

“Gah,” Hawk grunts, pausing for a moment to clear his throat roughly and pinch his nose hard, “fuck.” He sighs softly under his breath.

“You good?” Johnny asks, looking at Hawk to see if he’s actually okay.

When Hawk nods, he sniffles once more and goes back to soaking up mess.

Johnny juts hid chin out toward Ya-Ya, “What she say to make you all,” he points at his nose and the mess.

Hawk looks up at his Sensei, gawking at him and hesitant. It had been weird at first that Sensei was dating Miguel’s mom. But for Rosa to say something like that in front of him was too much information for him to know, making the idea of them dating even weirder. He looks over his shoulder at Rosa who gives him a knowing grin as she stirs the food on the stove, _“You gonna tell him?”_ she asks, almost daring him to so she can see him fumble over his words.

Pressing his lips in a fine line, he turns back to Sensei, “You need to learn Spanish.” He says.

Johnny squints in confusion, “What? That’s what she said and made you snot rocket juice all on the table?”

“Not exactly,” Hawk looks down, face growing hot. “Just – never mind.”

At that moment, Carmen steps out from the back, “Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to tell Miguel a few things before we left,” she explains, kissing Johnny’s cheek. She turns and sees her son’s boyfriend, “Hi Hawk.”

The now timid teen looks up and Ya-Ya’s words coming running through his mind again. Oh God please, no images! “H-hi Ms. Diaz.” He replies.

Carmen knows something is off and sees Hawk cleaning the table, “What happened here?” she asks gently, looking to her mother for answers.

_“Don’t look at me,”_ Rosa says with a sly smile, looking at Hawk to back her up.

“Uh, n-nothing. Just, went down the wrong pipe, is all.” He says, pointing at his glass of juice.

“Oh…okay, well, you and Miggy have fun tonight, hm?” Carmen tells Hawk.

“You too.” Hawk replies, instantly regretting the words with the closing of his eyes as he hears Ya-Ya laugh at his remark.

_“Oh, I’m sure they will!”_ Ya-Ya laughs, making her daughter wonder what she had meant by that.  



	4. Besitos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: fuck you Kyler

With the house to themselves, the couple didn’t hesitate to hold their make out session in Hawk’s bedroom. As a couple who exercised great restraint when around each other, all bets were off in the comfort of absolute privacy to themselves.

Hawk loved hearing Miguel whisper and moan his name. It stirred him up the same way it stirred Miguel up whenever his neck was under assault of his lips tongue and teeth. But perhaps what Hawk enjoyed the most was the way his boyfriend held his face and kissed him with vigor and excitement.

Miguel feels that wonderful, clouded fuzziness in his head when their kiss ends. He can’t let go of Eli just yet. He looks into those soft cerulean eyes and drifts down to Eli’s lips, which Hawk notices immediately, “Don’t,” he whispers, warning him in a pleading way, “don’t look at it.” _It_ meaning the scar on his upper lip.

“I’m not,” Miguel answers gently, “I’m looking at these.” He says, brushing his thumbs over the teen’s soft rosy lips.

“Same difference,” Hawk argues as he leans back to pull away, his mood ruined.

“No, no, no, stop, stop,” Miguel hushes, not letting go but sits up with him, legs still wrapped around his hips, “just hear me out?” He asks, gaze fixed on Hawk’s. When the other teen doesn’t say anything, Miguel continues, “Without being too corny, I really enjoy kissing you.” He explains, looking at them once more and biting his own bottom lip, resisting himself from leaning in to steal some more affection for himself.

One side of Hawk’s mouth curls up, sneering, “What? Why?” He questions Miguel in disbelief.

“Whaddyou mean _“why”_? Don’t be like that,” Miguel croons, rubbing Hawk’s neck.

“Like what?”

“All cynical n’ shit,” Miguel replies with a long breathy laugh. Hawk gives him an annoyed yet pointed look, “I’m just saying, I love how you make me feel,” Miguel answers as if it were obvious. Hawk scoffs and rolls his eyes, trying to retreat, “I’m serious babe,” Miguel continues and forcing Hawk to look at him. “I’m serious.” He repeats not tearing his eyes off him.

“When you kiss me, I – I feel this tingle that starts right here,” he rubs Hawk’s bottom lip with his thumb. “And when they’re swollen and hot, you go here,” His hand drifts down the side of Hawk’s neck, circling all the sensitive places he latches onto to decorate with hickies. Every time Miguel offered his neck, his skin was left hot and raw with wet spots cooling the moment Hawk lifted his warm mouth from it, “and it starts all over again.” 

Captivated by his boyfriend’s words, Hawk slips his hands around Miguel’s sides, his wariness waned off. “Really?” He asks, searching those baby browns for affirmation. Eli had always been so self-conscious about the scar. He worried that it drew subconscious attention in others when looking at him: looking at his noticeable imperfection first, _then_ at him second. One time he had been so uncomfortably aware of its existence when he and Miguel first made out, he impulsively asked the teen if he could feel it. When Miguel assured him he couldn’t, it only dimmed his worry by half a watt.

But this was new. This was _different._ Eli never entertained the possibility that he was skillful or had some sort of finesse in working his boyfriend up in the most seemingly juvenile of acts. And yet it sparked confidence in him. Granted – he knew just how riled up Miguel would get when they kissed, but he never knew all these thoughts came with it.

Nodding, Miguel pulls him in closer, their foreheads gently pressed together. He swallows and dares himself to continue, knowing full well where this will inevitably lead them, “My mind goes blank when you go here too,” he adds, the same hand drifting lower to Hawk’s chest. “It feels so good I can barely stand it.”

Miguel draws his lip between his teeth reminiscing on the handful of memories which happened all the same way. Occasionally, Hawk would slowly push Miguel’s shirt up, revealing his smooth caramel skin underneath and litter his chest in open mouth kisses, which makes Miguel sigh softly just thinking about it. But the more he goes over the memories, there’s one that makes the Latino boy blush, making him cast his gaze downward as if he has been uncovered in a shameless consciousness.

Hawk tilts his head and kisses Miguel earnestly, “You’re really cute, y’know that?” Hawk whispers, laying Miguel back down against the bed.


	5. Dormido

There are many things Hawk loves about Miguel. But what was easily the most adorable thing about him was the way he slept. More specifically, the way he looked sleeping, the things he did, and when he was tired.

For one, Miguel looked so peaceful when they took naps together. When Hawk found himself restless or waking before him, he’d let himself admire Miguel up close. The teen’s long lashes, his thick shapely eyebrows, his full lips, the way his soft dark hair draped over his face at times – it was too much to handle at times. So much so that Hawk found himself kissing Miguel’s forehead as the teen slept.

Two, Miguel slept like an octopus. Hawk was always tangled up by limbs or smacked awake when Miguel would shift around in his sleep. One time, Hawk had managed to slip away from him to go to the bathroom. When he returned, he found Miguel reaching blindly with one hand, searching for him in the spot he occupied when they slept. _His_ spot. 

And yet he also slept like a cat – all twisted and turned around. Looking at bend in Miguel’s neck, the uncomfortable twist of his back, and arms rotated unnaturally, Hawk was _sure_ his boyfriend would wake up with stiffness or something.

Third, Miguel ran cold. Hawk swears the kid was a goddamn ice box with how cold he was. Or at least felt. Or both – whichever. Miguel may _say_ he’s not cold, but with his sweaters and long sleeves and feeling like ice at the touch, Hawk thought otherwise. Even in the summer when it was hot, Hawk could wrap himself around Miguel to cool off.

Fourth, on really long days, Miguel would press the side of his cheek so hard into the pillow, his lips would push out and open ajar. And in these same instances, Hawk would hear his boyfriend softly snore. Despite how faint it was, those were the times Hawk knew Miguel was exhausted. Other times, Hawk would stifle a laugh from the little bit of drool he would find on himself from Miguel resting his head on his chest.

And lastly, and perhaps the most adorable thing Hawk found were the times which he would regrettably wake Miguel from his nap to let him know he needed to leave. Miguel would keep his eyes squinted, brows furrowed, and wore a deep frown as if he were grumpy, “Okay,” he’d rasp tiredly, “lemme walk you out.” And no matter how much Hawk insisted he did not need to do that, to just go back to sleep, Miguel would stubbornly ignore him as he wrapped his blanket around himself and shuffle his feet toward the door. When they would get to the Sentra Miguel would mumble for him to drive safe and to text him when he got home, stamped with a good night kiss.

And Hawk loved kissing his swollen sleep ridden cheeks right back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: i feel like i should apologize for the random chapter lengths? but we all know these are just random disorganized - what would you call this - pieces? moments? ideas? idk.


	6. Fuego

“Ya-Ya’s _chile_ tastes better,” Hawk smacks his lips. He and Miguel went out for burritos after practice and Hawk asked for their hottest sauce and was left disappointed with the lack of kick. Miguel laughed when his boyfriend swore it was because he was white that the cashiers would give him _gringo_ chile.

The first time he tried some, his mouth felt as if it were on fire, he began to sweat, and the heartburn was brutal. But the more he tried some, gradually adding more and more, tasting hotter ones, he adjusted well to having them when the mood struck him. He could even eat her spiciest dishes she had to offer.

“It’s not that bad,” Miguel shrugs, drowning his next bite with the dark orange sauce.

“Eh,” Hawk grumbles, reaching for the green one. That one never disappointed. But when it came to heat, Ya-Ya had it covered. All her chiles tasted different to balance all the flavors. Some sauces had onion, while others didn’t. The strong taste of garlic. The smoothness of blended tomato. Even the small burnt flakes of the peeled roasted peppers tasted amazing. And it was perfectly salted.

He added it to everything when he went over for dinner. He even found himself adding standard hot sauce to most of his food at home and school these days.

 _“I’m sure if you asked her, Ya-Ya would make some for you to take home,”_ Miguel suggests to Hawk in Spanish. _“You know how much she loves you.”_

Hawk shakes his head, “I don’t want to inconvenience her.”

“She won’t mind,” Miguel insists, _“She loves how much you enjoy her food._ You know how she goes all, “ _Aye mijo, you eat so well! You’re practically Ecuadorian!”_ ” He impersonates his grandmother’s voice. They laugh together, knowing exactly how Rosa gets when she’s impressed. “She’ll be so happy if you ask her for some.”

Hawk considers it for a moment, _“I’ll think about it.”_ Licking sauce off his finger. He clicks his tongue judging the taste once again. Yeah no, Ya-Ya’s was exponentially better.


	7. Tanto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: full disclosure, this is my favorite chapter i've written which started my whole involvement with this ship. e n j o y

Looking at the calendar Miguel couldn’t believe he and Eli were coming up two years being together. It felt like they had been together longer than that, yet it felt like they had just started going out at the same time. He knew Hawk wasn’t really into romantics, but this was a big deal to Miguel. A part of him wondered if Hawk knew about their anniversary date coming up. Last year they spent it like any other night of going out. Hitting up the movies, driving over to Golf N’ Stuff, getting fat on endless apps at TGIFriday’s. As fun as it was to spend time together, they didn’t really exchange any words of acknowledgement on the day or how they felt for one another. At the time it hadn’t bothered Miguel that their special day hadn’t been brought up. To be fair _he_ hadn’t mention anything either. But it did make him wonder about what Hawk was thinking or might’ve felt. Not to say it bothers him _now_ but, he wondered if it would be different this time; and if so, how?

Miguel didn’t need to be impressed with expensive gifts or elaborate plans. He was a young man of affirmation and quality time. He just needed to be assured occasionally that things were good between them to ease his overthinking. Hawk called it being needy in a joking way but knew better not to mean it in a condescending tone. With their two-year streak coming up, Miguel could sure use some reassurance.

“Hey, wanna go out next Saturday?” Hawk asks Miguel during lunch.

“Next Saturday?” Miguel repeats with confusion written all over his face. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? Are you busy or something?”  
  
“No,” Miguel drawls out, “I’m just confused as to why you’re asking me that far in advance.” They were the spur of the moment kind of couple; they were down for whatever with whoever whenever.

Hawk narrows his eyes slightly, “Do you need a reason?” Hawk asks slowly, he too confused as to why Miguel was even questioning him.

Miguel gives Hawk’s question careful consideration. Next week _was_ their anniversary. And on a Thursday at that. They would have Cobra Kai training together after school, then Hawk would need to high tail it over to his doctor’s appointment leaving Miguel to either walk home or catch a ride with Sensei. So, _if_ Miguel were to guess – strictly speaking in high hopes – _maybe_ Saturday would be their day together to commemorate their relationship milestone.

Working his jaw into a smile at the thought, he shrugs innocently, “I guess I don’t.”

When Thursday rolled around, Miguel didn’t expect to find a Deadpool build-a-bear in his locker. It appeared to be waving with a fake rose and an envelope with the word “Champ ♥” in Hawk’s neat handwriting in its other hand, er – paw. “Oh my God,” he smiled, reaching into his locker to pull the bear out, accidentally pressing the sound button, triggering the plush to say, “What’s up hot stuff?” in Hawk’s voice. Miguel laughs and plucks the envelope, curling in his lips and grazing his teeth over them as he opens the flap. He pulls out a one-sided card that read,

“We're like two jigsaw pieces-weird curvy edges  
Put them together and you can see the picture on top.”

The 2-minute warning bell rings and Miguel takes another look at the gift before placing it back inside his locker. He wonders when Hawk had the time to do that or if he enlisted help from one of their friends to pull it off. Either way, he knew he was going to drag his boyfriend away from lunch to go back to the car to make out as a form of thanks, considering he didn’t get him one.

Walking into the biology lab, he spots Hawk is already seated and smirks, “You uh, take a trip to your locker?” He ask, noticing the textbook he had brought which was kept in said location.

“As a matter of fact – I _did_ ,” Miguel plops into his seat. He leans in and whispers, “And I gotta tell ya, it’s kinda hard not to kiss you into a stupor right now with what I found in there with your name written all over it.” He smiles, giving Hawk a knowing look.

Hawk looks Miguel up at down with that infuriating lopsided cocky smirk, “Oh yeah?” He asks, his curiosity had by his boyfriend, “And uh…where exactly do you wanna do that, if not now?”

“You, me, gettin’ hot n’ heavy at lunch in the student parking lot in your car.” Miguel paints him a distracting picture with a wink and an air kiss.

With an impressed look on his face and interested raised brow, Hawk’s attention is entirely captured by his lab partner. So much so as he doesn’t learn a _anything_ about membrane transport.

Hawk had thought about what to do for their anniversary weekend in great length. And in his attempt to plan something to do together, he didn’t have any ideas as to what to do. Miguel was easy to please when It came to dates. Napping together was considered a date to them now, so – Hawk didn’t have to try too hard. But considering this was a bigger deal than usual, it had to be fun and not to their usual spots. All he did know for certain was that he was going to something special by the end of it all.

When Miguel gets in the car slamming his door shut and asks what they were doing, Hawk looks at him as says, “I have _no idea_ , but!” Miguel is already giving him a look of uncertainty and trying his best not to show how the bit of disappointment within him. If Hawk had asked him out, Miguel only assumed that he had everything figured out. So, hear that he hadn’t…”– I promise it won’t be boring.” Hawk finishes his sentence. He takes Miguel’s hand and kisses his knuckles, “Trust me.”

“Well let’s get going then.” Miguel smiles, grabbing his sunglasses that he kept in Hawk’s car and putting them on.

Out of all the things they’ve done together on dates, surprisingly bowling and hitting up the arcade had not been one of those things they did together. To no surprise the bowling alley was quite busy, but they managed to snag a lane after thumbing quarters into the arcade for over an hour. Neither of them knew what they were doing throwing the bowling ball around, earning more gutter balls and knocking two to three pins at a time. When one got a miraculous strike, the other would flip them off.

They walked around the area hand in hand window shopping store to store and a fruit vendor catches Miguel’s attention, “Hey lets go over there.” He tells Hawk, pulling him toward the umbrella cart.

Hawk had seen a few of these here and there around the area, but he never knew what they were or what was sold. Upon closer inspection, he sees that it’s some sort of candied fruit. Or at least what he thinks is candied.

 _“Hi how are you?”_ Miguel greets the woman who runs the cart with a broad smile. He looks at the fresh fruit chilling inside the hull of the art and his mouth starts to water, “Do you want one?” He asks Hawk.

“What is it exactly?” Hawk asks curious.

“They’re cups of fruit, and sometimes they have cucumbers, but they’re drowned in lime juice, chile powder, and chamoy sauce.” Miguel explains.

“What?” Hawk asks, laughing lightly. Lime juice? Chile powder? On _fruit?_ It sounded bizarre.

“Yeah but I swear it’s really good. It’s popular in Mexico. Ya-Ya makes something similar at home. Do you wanna try some?” The lady had a small piece of mango with the assorted ingredients ready for him to sample on a toothpick. He grabs it from her gloved hand, _“Thank you,_ ” and hands it to Hawk, “Try it! It’s sweet and spicy.”

Hawk stares at the cubed orange fruit dripping with crimson toppings. He firmly believes it _won’t_ be as good as Miguel says it will but… “Ah, what the hell,” he shrugs, taking the toothpick, “I didn’t think I could ever eat the level of spicy I can eat today so, _salud.”_ He puts the piece in his mouth and he’s immediately greeted with this tangy spice flavor from the chamoy. It has some heat but it’s also sweet in its own way? That and the salty chile powder – it was an exploding, confusing burst of flavor. The more he chews, the taste of mango too mix in together, creating a whole new taste.

Miguel and the woman hold their breath, watching his expression, trying to guess what he thinks about it. And to his surprise, “That’s really good. And refreshing.” He says, hissing back his watering mouth. _“Can I get a cup of just mango please?”_ He asks her.

They sit on the sidewalk enjoying their snack together and talking about how much they’re looking forward to moving up to Cobra Kai’s first ever Over 18 “King Cobra” tournament team in a few months. Miguel shared with Hawk the plans Sensei had for them to further improve their skills and different schedules than they were used to.

Hawk checks his phone to see if he has any important messages, “Oh shit, we should get going,” he says after he looks at the time on the screen before pocketing his phone away.

“Are we going back home already?” Miguel asks with a hint of disappointment and sadness.

“Nah,” Hawk says, taking Miguel’s hand to lead them back to the car, “I’m taking your nerd ass to see the stars.”

Miguel’s face lights up, “Really? Where?” He asks with excitement. Maybe they would go to the observatory. Or one of the museums nearby. Or maybe Hawk found a place tucked away somewhere that he didn’t know about. Wherever they were going, it sounded nice if they were going stargazing.

Hawk shrugs, “You’ll have to wait and see.” He says with his cocky smirk and wink of his eye. He relinquishes his music authority over to Miguel to control the music as they drive off to their surprise destination.

As Hawk drives, he holds Miguel’s hand on the shift knob, which Miguel takes a picture of to post later. He takes a short video of Hawk driving to add to his collection of stories he’s shared throughout the day, _he’s taking me to go see the stars tonight_ , he types. Hawk will most likely see this later and grumble about how their friends are going to tease him about being sweet and thoughtful and all that other sentimental crap. Whatever. Hawk’s sentimental crap was meant for and belonged to Miguel who reveled in it.

Vaguely recognizing where they are, Miguel asks, “Why’re you pulling over here? The park is beyond the gate,”

“Well unless you wanna be locked inside the park and charged a huge ass fee beyond ten bucks for RV parking, we’re gonna have to park out here and go into the wood line over there,” Hawk nods over in the direction they’ll be headed toward.

Miguel looks over and sees a trail marker in the distance, “Ohh,” he says, shrugging and hopping out the Sentra.

Hawk pulls out a thick blanket and an old camp lantern out from the trunk and slams it shut, rounding the car over to Miguel, “C’mon let’s go.” He says with a half smirk and pulling Miguel out from his thoughts with a jerk and tug of his hand. Hawk leads them into the woods and follow a trail headed toward a resting area with picnic tables. He shakes the blanket out and drapes it over the tabletop.

They climb on the wobbly and narrow surface, laughing when they knock into one another. “Mn, cozy.” Miguel jokes, wiggling into the plush comforter on his back to settle in.

Hawk places the lantern on the seating bench beside him and turns over, smiling, “Right?” He tucks his arm behind his head and reaches for Miguel’s hand with the other. Not to toot his own horn but, he picked out probably the perfect spot with a good clearing to see the ombre sunset up in the cloudless sky.

“This is really nice,” Miguel comments. “The way the colors blend together is pretty.” Hawk admired the way Miguel spoke. Like, he didn’t care what people thought of the things he said when he said things like, “pretty”, “cute”, or “adorable”. Hawk supposed the confidence Miguel had and the genuine interest he held for things just – _naturally_ came together for him in such a way no one would question him or his masculinity. It was probably dumb, Hawk thought, to be so wrapped up in one’s image like he was. But – being with Miguel, he could see this fluidity that could exist, like somehow everything about yourself can work together. And it’s what he wanted for himself.

“Yeah…its always pretty.” Hawk agrees, putting his phone on low to play music for background noise.

Miguel was the first to spot a star in the magenta hue of the setting sun. He blurted it out mid-sentence of telling him about Sensei was going to show him how to drive a stick shift. Hawk didn’t bother to redirect the conversation back to where it originally was. He rather enjoyed seeing Miguel’s face light up as more stars began to appear and the ombre sky began to quickly darken. “Wow,” Miguel sighs, “this is – _amazing_.” He says with a smile in his voice. “It’s crazy we don’t get to see as many stars where we live like you do here,” he comments, whispering, “wow,” again in complete awe and falling back into quiet.

There wasn’t any better moment than now for Hawk to make his move. “Hey so uh,” Hawk clears his throat to break the silence between them, “I found this song that reminds me of us.” He says nonchalantly, typing in the song on his phone in the search bar of his app.

“Oh nice, let’s hear it.” Miguel says, getting comfortable on his side facing Hawk. Hawk chews on his lip as nervousness begins to set in, his thumb hovering over the searched track. No. No, no, no, he couldn’t bitch out now. He goes all in, tapping the play button and turning it up all the way.

As soon as the song starts, two things took Miguel by surprise: first, that it wasn’t an 80’s song or of the rock genre, and two, that they would be listening to a Spanish song judging from the first few words he hears. Pleasantly surprised, it starts off as if he’s being spoken to directly.

_You say that I am impossible to decipher_

_Quiet, reserved and temperamental_

Oh yeah, that was Hawk alright.

_That you would love me to express myself a little more_

_And talking about feelings is not given to me_

Miguel internally agrees with that sentiment. It was just last week he was reflecting on last years anniversary and how neither of them had really mentioned their milestone. Or how whenever he tried to engage Hawk about his feelings toward him or any sort of praise, Hawk always shied away from the topic. It didn’t hurt necessarily, but it did make Miguel feel that he liked Hawk more than the other boy did.

_  
  
But I'm going to try_

Miguel feels the warmth of Hawk’s hand intertwine with his and clasps it firmly, as if he were about to brace himself for something like he usually does when he’s feeling anxious.

_I love you so much_

_So much that I feel silly_

_Silly that it hurts so much when you're not there_

Miguel freezes as his chest tighten and his face heats up. His mind goes into overdrive and starts to put the pieces together: if Hawk wanted him to listen to this particular song on this particular night, it has to mean something, right? He tries his best to listen to the words over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

_  
I love so much_

_And so you can imagine how much_

_Count all the stars and add one more_

Miguel looks at Eli in front him, feeling overwhelmed by the message in the song so far. But Eli keeps his eyes casted down at their hands, probably trying to keep his own emotions in check.

_I'm reserved, don't take it personal_

_So much corniness tends to bother me_

_If I was speechless, it's not intentional_

_How to express something that I can't explain?_

_But I'm going to try_

Miguel tears up as he watches and listen to Eli quietly sing the repetition of the chorus as if he were finally saying them out loud to him. He can’t help but squeeze Eli’s hand a little, silently encouraging to keep going.

_I love so much_

_So much that I don't know how to explain it_

_So much so that even I am scared_

_Just thinking_

_That I love you so much_

_So much that I feel silly_

_Silly that it hurts so much when you're not there_

_So much_

_And so you can imagine how much_

_Count all the stars_

_Add all my freckles_

_And when you think it's coming, add one more_

_And add one more_

Once the song fades out, the deep breath Hawk takes makes Miguel take one too – except he’s careful not to give away that he has a slight runny nose from how emotional all that had been for him just now.

“So…what’d you think?” Hawk asks.

Miguel took a moment to collect himself before he could answer. He clears his throat, “Uhh…I gotta say I uh, I liked the mini guitar solo,” he answers, straining not to sound shaky and to lighten the intensity for them both.

That rare genuine smile spreads across Hawk’s lips and exhales a soft chuckle. He finally looks up at Miguel and swallows the lump in his throat, looking at him in such a way that only Miguel understood when he was about to be vulnerable. “I,” he drifts, taking a moment to steel himself to tell Miguel what he had been rehearsing for months. “I-I’m not good with this sort of thing. Y’know, sharing my feelings a-and being romantic…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and – you deserve to know how I feel. About you. About _us_. You deserve romantic moments. And I never want to give you any reason to question any of it. B-but it’s…scary.”

“Why’s it scary?” Miguel questions him, voice soft and affectionate.

Eli hesitates to be honest with Miguel in fear of soiling the mood. But like he just said, Miguel deserves to know how he’s feeling; this includes being honest. “Because if this end – it’ll hurt way worse than anything else that I’ve dealt with before. Like a fractured rib or putting a broken nose back in place. It’s scary how I feel about you.”

“And how exactly do you feel about me?” Miguel whispers, eager and wanting to hear Eli come out with it.

“C’mon, didn’t you listen? You know.” He says passively and avoiding Miguel’s gaze.

“Yeah but I think you’d feel better if you said it.” Miguel points out, squeezing his hand to ground and encourage him to keep going.

 _It_. Saying “it” would make his feelings for Miguel real. Even _acknowledging_ what “it” was, was scary. Love? Having a profoundly tender, passionate affection for Miguel that left him a feeling of warm personal attachment. Having this deep affection for his boyfriend. Having passion and desire for him. The idea of love was scary. But to love Miguel was scarier. Eli riddled himself ill with worry and doubt. Not to mention being self-conscious of _how_ to love him. What if he didn’t love him enough or in the way Miguel needs him to? What if he felt all these intense confusing emotions and revealed them, only then to be left for someone better? The amount of insecurity from these doubts added an enormous amount of weight into his fear of love toward Miguel, and self-deprecation.

But fear did not exist. Not when faced with your opponent or a challenge one must overcome. Miguel was not his opponent, but _“Hawk”_ made love a challenge too difficult to overcome because of whatever masculine alpha badassery he wanted to present.

Except Miguel didn’t need Hawk. He needed _Eli._ In a way, Eli – facing love in its intimidating face – was a lot braver and willing to not only expose himself for who he is, but to let Miguel in. And all Miguel had ever been was accepting.

Eli adjusts himself to get a better view of Miguel whose eyes pleaded him to tell him the words he needed to hear so he can say them back – words Miguel had been wanting to say since last year but hasn’t in fear of scaring him away, and instead concealed them in other verbal expressions.

He scoots in closer, using his free hand to cup the side of Miguel’s face, admiring how handsome he looked before locking eyes with his. He licks his lips tentatively and takes a shallow breath, “I love you Miguel,” Eli whispers.

Miguel doesn’t know why but hearing those words makes his chin tremble as an overwhelming sense of relief washes over him, causing these tears he held back this entire time finally spill over. Thankfully, Eli doesn’t ask why he’s crying. He recognized when others were deeply affected by emotional grand gesture – and this was exactly that. This was a big deal to Miguel considering Eli was rarely ever vulnerable with him. Especially to this degree. He felt honored to be trusted by Eli. 

Eli wipes the hot tears away with his thumb and holds his face gingerly, “I am so deeply and madly in love with you, Miguel,” he starts off slowly, “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met and I’m beyond lucky to have you in my life,” he says a little louder, feeling confident to tell him so. There was so much he wanted to say, if only he could properly articulate his profession to its entirety. His mom had told him that falling in love is a privilege of being let into someone’s soul and learning the most intimate details of their being. It was corny as shit. But when he was with Miguel, he understood what she had meant. He thought he had understood when he was with Moon, but his previous relationship which felt like a lifetime ago was nowhere near as intense as his relationship with Miguel.

Hawk had given Miguel so many reasons, if not opportunities, to break things off with him for being so hot headed and irrational. But he stuck by his side and helped him through everything together. He’s been nothing but unconditionally patient and kind toward him since they had first become friends.

Eli holds Miguel closely rubbing his back slowly, patiently waiting for him to regain his bearings. This was all for him to hear and must be a lot to take on. It wasn’t for Eli’s feelings to be returned or whatever. Eli just needed Miguel to know how he felt about him.

After some time, Miguel wipes at his face and sniffs, “Sorry,”

“No need to be,” Hawk tells him, brushing his hair back to help wipe his face. “Feel better?” Miguel nods and hides his tear streaked face. Hawk is anxious to hear what Miguel has to say, but a part within him is calm at the same time. “Sorry I made you cry.”

Miguel lets out a laughing breath, “No it’s fine! I’m just – running high on emotions right now? So…yeah. It was sweet. _You_ were – ah god get it together Miguel,” he laughs at himself. He looks up at Hawk, smiling now, “What I’m tryna say is,” Miguel trails off in disbelief he’s about to say the words he’s been waiting to say, _wanting_ to say, “I love you too.”

Hawk cups the side of Miguel’s face and kisses him, sealing their devotion. They say nothing else as they return to looking at the bright stars above them in each other’s arms.

Time passes them by faster than anticipated by the time Hawk realizes the time, “It’s getting late,” Hawk tells Miguel, gently shaking his shoulder.

“Mn…five more minutes?” Miguel asks, not wanting to leave just yet.

“Alright, five more minutes.” He tells him.

Hawk makes a mental note to never drive on windy roads at night ever again. Between hard turns and deer, it was one of the least comfortable driving experiences. When he finally pulls up to the apartment, he kills the engine and unbuckles himself, “I uh, really enjoyed tonight,” he tells Miguel.

“Yeah, me too,” Miguel replies. “I do have to ask though,” he says, undoing his seatbelt as well. “Did you plan to play that song under the stars on purpose?” he asks under a factitious squint, wondering just how much of a romantic his boyfriend truly was yet constantly denied.

Hawk blinks, coming to realization how the two played hand in hand, “Uh,” he drawls, “Honestly? I didn’t think about that until you pointed that out just now,” he admits. “I just thought it’d be nice. You know…since you’re lowkey into astronomy n’ shit.”

“Such a way with words,” Miguel laughs, shaking head.

“Hey, my words made you cry earlier!” Hawk reminds his boyfriend with a playful shove.

“Yeah because you were being _romantic_. You just downplayed my interests, dork.” Miguel counters, lightheartedly smacking Hawk’s hand away. By doing so, they somehow get into a blocking and counter strike match in the small car, laughing as they try to tap each other’s sides.

Miguel manages to catch Hawk by his forearms and jerks him forward for a kiss. They bump into each other a little hard against their mouths, but they soothe over the pain with slow and tender kisses. They can feel each other’s smile against their lips, enjoying this new excitement in their relationship. “We better get going. Don’t wanna keep our moms waiting.” Miguel says with a bit of regret in his voice.

Hawk sighs and nods his head in agreement, “Yeah, probably should huh?” he says, leaving a few light kisses along his neck.

Miguel hums, his body thrumming with warmth. He pulls back to look at Hawk, “I love you.” Miguel looked and sounded so sweet; Hawk had to know if the words made his lips even sweeter. With one last kiss, Hawk pulls away before they delay themselves any further.

“Love you too,” Hawk says back. “Now,” Hawk yanks his arms from Miguel’s grip, “get the hell out of my car before I jump you in the backseat.”

Laughing, Miguel gives him one more kiss before he shoulders himself out of the car, telling him to drive safely and to text him when he got home so they could video call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: yeah i wrote a song fic but how could i n0T?  
> Tanto by Jesse & Joy, Luis Fonsi


	8. Está Bien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: *Please note* there is mention of underage sex, but there is N O descriptive or explicit excerpts. 
> 
> Here, Miguel & Eli/Hawk are depicted as 17, soon to be 18, hence *brief mention* of underage foolery

Last night’s news occupies the forefront of Miguel’s mind. He’s deep in thought of rearranging his plans for senior year and graduation as he mindlessly massaged Hawk’s knee. He’s only pulled out of his thoughts when Hawk presses the pad of his finger between his deeply furrowed brows. “Hey, are you even listening?” Hawk laughs as he plops back against the pile of pillows behind him. “What’s wrong, babe? You’ve been quiet ever since you showed up.” He says, lifting Miguel’s ankle to resume rolling ice over it.

Hawk knew right away there was something up the moment Miguel had shown up to his place a bit gloomy; still excited to hang, but not entirely present. He didn’t want to say anything at first. He had learned that Miguel would always open up to him when he was ready. But this was one of those instances where Hawk needed to nudge. When Miguel sighs, he knows whatever it is he has to say is big news.

“You know how Sensei and my mom have been going out for a while?” Miguel starts.

“Yeah. What about ‘em?” Hawk hoped Miguel wasn’t guilting himself about Robby again. Robby insisted many times already that he was fine with their parents dating and stepping into the fatherly light for Miguel.

“Well, last night they told Robby and I that they’re expecting a baby next Spring.”

Hawk stops rolling the ice and his eyes grow wide, “What?” He says in disbelief. Miguel nods and Hawk isn’t sure if he’s upset or not. “Are you upset?”

“Huh? No. No of course not. It’s just…” he trails off, stopping the motion of his thumb gliding under the space between the kneecap and open gap, “I’m worried about my mom, you know? She works a lot at the hospital she’s at, she’s an x-ray technician, so – exposure to a lot of radiation is dangerous. Plus, she’s a little older. Her pregnancy will be hard on her I feel.”

Hawk caresses Miguel’s calve, “Did she say how far along she is?”

“Ah…three months? Twelve weeks,” he counts on his fingers to make sure his math was right, “yeah just over three months now.” He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Whaddyou mean?”

“College,” Miguel answers, clearly overwhelmed with the idea due to the situation. “I mean, I know Johnny will be there for her. But with the baby and me graduating, I feel like I should be there for her. I don’t think I would be comfortable leaving her knowing how crazy it will all be. And we made all those plans together.” He and Hawk decided that they would apply to as many schools as they could together, chasing that high school sweetheart dream of being together to avoid the distress of distance. But now all of that was changing for Miguel.

But Hawk doesn’t see a problem, “Why not stay local then? You don’t _have_ to dorm. You can still be at home and be there for your mom when you can.” He offers optimistically.

“Between our job at the theater, applying for college and SATs our senior year, and now _this_? I’m not so sure,” Miguel doubts. He wondered how his mom was even to make it work when she had him, moved to the States, and went to nursing school. She made it happen, but it felt impossible right now in his eyes.

Hawk sits up to lay next to Miguel, “Hey, it’s gonna be okay. Your mom has so much support. With you, Ya-Ya, Sensei – er, Johnny, she won’t have to worry too much about anything. And don’t worry about college. We’ll figure something out. Whether it be community or UCLA, or taking however long off, it’ll be okay. I promise.”

Miguel looks at his boyfriend sadly, “But I know you wanted to go to MIT. I don’t want you to abandon it or whatever because of me.”

Hawk smiles, “Yeah well, you’re more important.” Miguel wants to argue but Hawk wraps him up close into a tight hug, “Baby? You are more important. _Understand?_ ” Seeing as it was pointless to try to say otherwise, Miguel nods. Deep down, he knows Eli has no problem setting certain things aside. It still didn’t help him feel any less guilty now.

Hawk kisses him and sweeps Miguel’s long hair to the side, “So how did they tell you guys?”

“Oh my God –“ Miguel smiles and covers his face, “when my mom told us, I yelled at Johnny and then Robby was all, “You ever heard of condoms?” And _then_ he threw me under the bus with, “I’m sure Miguel has plenty to spare.””

Hawk’s expression drops, “No,”

“Yes! He fucking did! I felt so betrayed,” Miguel continues to laugh, “then my mom dude,” Miguel groans, “God, she freaked out. _“You’re having sex?!”_ ” He impersonates her voice in Spanish.

“…At least we’re safe about it,” Hawk mumbles, wanting some credit of responsibility.

“That’s what I said!” Miguel shrieked in defense. “I overheard her tell _Ya-Ya_ and even she said the same thing. Except she was all, _“What’s the point, they won’t end up like you.”_ God, it was so embarrassing. Then she tried asking, you know, afterwards about when it happened.”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Hell. _No,_ ” Miguel exasperates, “why would I tell her? That’s – no. But I did promise her that we’re being careful. So, she’s not mad.”

A sigh leaves Hawk, “If it makes you feel any better, my mom knew the _night_ it happened.” Miguel looks at him wide eyed, “Yeah. When I got home, all I did was say hi, and she put her teacup down and said it as a matter of _fact._ And you know my Bubbeh was there visiting at the time,” Miguel covered his mouth in shock. “Yeah…”

“I went to your house to say bye to her,” Miguel recalls. Hawk’s grandmother was no sweeter than she had always been but, the amount of embarrassment.

“Yeah, sorry. I wanted to spare you from feeling awkward.” Hawk admits.

“But your _mom,_ ” Miguel groans, ignoring Hawk’s insistence that things were fine. It just explained the sudden shift of “keep the door open” to closing the door mostly shut. And all along he had thought they had just trusted them enough to understand that all they would do was cuddle and kiss when they were home. 

“Mom was a lot more relaxed about it. Be careful, if something’s wrong I should tell her, yadda, yadda, yadda. My _dad_ though was – pfft, awkward. He didn’t know what the hell to say except if I needed anymore, that he would give me money for them. You know, condoms.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Miguel cuts him off. Hawk smiles at how adorable Miguel looks flustered, burying his face against his chest to hide, mortified of what he’d just learn months later.

“Like I said, everything will be fine.” Hawk reassures him. They would work it out like they always had.


	9. Natural

Miguel pulls Hawk with him as leans back against the passage door as his head gently thudding against the window. Hawk eagerly follows, legs climbing over the middle console awkwardly with his arms bounded by the other’s grip.

Hawk catches himself from falling when Miguel releases his arms by bracing them against the door panel, boxing the teen in. Miguel caresses Eli’s jaw and neck in one hand, while the other holds fast to his hip, thumb slipped under his shirt and brushing over his hip bone. Pleased with hearing the hitched moan from his boyfriend, Miguel smiles as he continues to chase kiss after kiss as their breath grows heavy enough to fog the windows of the car.

Hawk’s arms start to tremble from holding himself up. Even his core is losing its strength to not lay and press into Miguel. That would be – that would – escalate things. He feels Miguel’s hand travels down and around firmly, now holding him on his lower back. The gentle tug on his lower back is all that it takes for Hawk to give way and collapse onto Miguel. “Shit, sorry,” he hisses as he tries to lift himself up, but Miguel’s hand on his lower back keeps him pinned down.

“Don’t be,” Miguel says breathlessly, kissing wherever he can along Hawk’s neck, “I don’t mind.” He whispers in his ear. The way he said it though sent a shiver down Hawk’s spine. And that’s when he catches himself getting excited. He stops, bringing Miguel’s hand down from his face for him to stop too.

“I-if you keep doing that I – I-I’m –“ he stammers, hesitant to finish his sentence and squeezing the teen’s hand.

“You’ll what?” Whispers Miguel, almost daring him to finish his sentence. Eli watches as Miguel turns his head to kiss his forearm. He watches as Miguel gives him this – this – _seductive_ look in his eyes that has Eli’s mind going a thousand miles a second. Miguel’s boldness was making his breath heavier and heart beat faster. When he doesn’t answer, Miguel comes to a stop and looks him in the eyes, “Eli? Is this okay?”

They had fooled around a handful of time before when their arousal got the better of their curiosity. Hawk remembers the first time when Miguel got hard from a particularly steamy make out sesh. He had been shocked to discover it he blurted it out to Miguel, who gave a nervous smile and half grimacing shrug, “…well, _yeah_ …you’re kinda riling me up. It’s natural to react like this.”

And it was riveting to know he had that effect on him.

Except Hawk didn’t know what other steps to take to – well – ‘get to another base’. Not that it was his goal, but he was performatively unsure how to move things along, or if Miguel would want to. Having those conversations were still a bit embarrassing to have without looking like a horndog. Plus – Hawk wasn’t sure how prepared he was if they went far enough together. Would he be able to stop or slow down? So, he did what he did best; avoid it as much as he could.

But now was proving difficult to do so. Clearly, Miguel was fine with the probability of what may happen next, which reminded Hawk of how comfortable he could be around him. That it was natural. So who was he to deny Miguel or himself of mutual desire?

“Yeah,” he answers, tilting his head and nudging his nose against Miguel’s, “yeah it’s okay.” He kisses him firmly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> d'aw


	10. Kodak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: there are few things to keep in mind plz:
> 
> -this e n t i r e work does not have a dedicated timeline but may feed/influence other chapters
> 
> -t h i s chapter has an additional character - a baby girl who Johnny and Carmen have together
> 
> -t h i s chapter takes place at a new home I haven't posted about yet - meaning that Miguel has a full bedroom in the basement of the home (and yes, basements are super rare in california, unless you have a super luxurious house)
> 
> -annnnd yeah, the diaz & lawrence households are under one roof - which I promise to post a story about sometime in the near future.
> 
> enjoy! :)

Nothing made Miguel happier than seeing pictures his friends took of him and Hawk and tagging them. They were perfectly captured candid bits when they were lost in each other or just times their friends thought it to be a Kodak moment. When he complained about not having any room left in his phone, Hawk took the opportunity to back the photos up to their cloud and saved them in a digital frame. It displayed a slideshow of shuffled pictures every few minutes. It was easily one of Miguel’s favorite gifts.

Miguel was always taking pictures for the gram or recording something on Snapchat or TikTok. It was almost never a safe moment for Hawk. At first, he felt like he was being caught doing something “unmanly” or “cheesey” or whatever.

The first time it happened was when they were napping together and Miguel was recording them on snap. Hawk was all cuddled up to him, face buried in the crook of his neck, and mumbling in a low whine of how he didn’t want to get up just yet. It was cute. But when Hawk found out, he groaned and sent a bunch of middle fingers to his friends who teased him about it.

The second time it happened was when Hawk was serenading Miguel in the car on their way to the dojo. He was singing his rendition of “Anything, Anything”, air drums and all. And when Hawk saw was Miguel was doing he stopped and gave him a deadpan expression. Miguel had captioned it with Hawk’s low mutter of “you ruined it” followed by crying laughing emojis.

Miguel found these times very sweet, and Hawk’s reactions hilarious. After a while, Hawk realized that there was nothing for him to do to make Miguel ease up. He learned to just go with the flow and accept it. It wasn’t like their relationship was something hid or was embarrassed of. So, he would get animated in the videos to make Miguel laugh, telling their audience, “see what I have to deal with?” in a playful manner.

Hawk knew his boyfriend was just excited to share whatever moments they had together for everyone to see. Nothing too personal of course. There were things Miguel would take and keep for himself, too precious to share with anyone. He’d randomly re-watch them sometimes and smile, reflecting how happy he really was.

One of his favorite trends was watching clips of couples being all lovey when their significant other didn’t know they were filming. Watching those raw intimate moments made him feel warm and fuzzy, the same feelings whenever he was with or thought of Eli.

Because Hawk’s parents followed him on all of his social media, Miguel kept in mind to not post anything too explicit – not that it was ever a problem – but he didn’t want either of them catching flack about the pictures of them being in bed and shirtless and stuff like that. But he figured that since their parents knew about the seriousness of their relationship and other er, _private_ stuff, it shouldn’t be a big deal, right? And Hawk didn’t mind what he shared as long as it wasn’t anything they considered too intimate or inappropriate.

One early morning, Miguel woke up an hour before his alarm was set to go off. While looking at his phone to kill the time, the bright light was stirring Hawk awake, who had slept over. Miguel is quick to pull open his front facing camera and tap the record button, capturing Hawk asking why he was awake so early in his rough and sleepy voice. He scooted in close with Miguel wrapping his arm around him, carding his fingers through his hair repeatedly, then kissing the top of his head.

Another time Miguel set up his phone to catch the predictable timing which Hawk would find him, occupied with whatever, and come up behind him to lean down and give him a kiss. Anytime Miguel was busy, if Hawk were walking by, he would give him a kiss on the cheek or lean in with a smooch to the lips. And when Hawk walked away to let him continue, the phone also caught the way Miguel would watch Hawk with that wide cheesy grin on his face.

Some of these same moments, Hawk would come up behind Miguel in the kitchen, making food for them both after practice, and wrap his arms around to the front of his waist. They would sway back and forth, and Miguel would look back silently asking for a kiss and given one.

Sometimes there were photobombs of Johnny in the background walking past or clapping his hand on the ack of one of them. When Miguel had posted the clips of Johnny in the background, viewers asked in the comments who he was. Explaining that he was basically his dad, viewers thought how sweet it was to see how supportive he was – being a stepparent and everything after given the full story in a separate clip.

What Miguel loved most was recording Hawk spending time with his family. Like when he would talk to his grandma. He’d record them and caption their conversation in English and Spanish, and it was anything from him trying her food for his opinion or arguing about who was the better fighter in a match.

Or especially when he would help with Lala. Like, if Mom needed to do something real quick, Hawk would be the first one to offer a hand before anyone else would wait for her to pass the baby to them. Even on nights when she and Johnny would go out on their date nights, he, Hawk, and Robby would all hang out in the basement to babysit. Ya-Ya did a lot to help Carmen, so the boys knew she needed a break as well. And with Johnny taking Laura to most practices while Carmen worked, the boys wanted to help on their end.

But what was special watching Hawk and Lala was how much he would play with her with such animation. Miguel wasn’t sure if baby fever was a thing with guys but holy shit did he feel it when he watched him interact with his baby sister. But – obviously that would be a time later down the road for them both.

To Miguel, recording everything they did together was like the modern family videos from the 80’s when families had huge camera recorders. His Mom had a few lying around somewhere. Little random clips of different times of his life growing up all saved on tapes until it was full. This was the same thing. And it was nice to look at, reliving that moment again and again like when he captured it in that moment.


	11. Hands On

Eyes closed and brows knitted together, Miguel focuses on his breathing, "Mn, deeper," he grunts. When Hawk only moves a little bit, Miguel shakes his head, "m-more." 

Hawk rolls his eyes and shakes his head, looking away, "Can you not do that?" He mumbles. 

"Do what?" Miguel sighs, concentrating on the stretch.

"Saying that stuff like _that_ ," Hawk quietly adds, looking around the other students to see if anyone overheard.

"We're just stretching. Not my fault your mind's in the gutter." Miguel shifts a little to help deepen the stretch in his hamstring. "Yeah hold right there."

"Oh my God," Hawk groans, "please stop." He whines, trying to laugh it off.

"Fine, I'll just work on my split." Miguel pushes Hawk off effortlessly. He rolls over with a sigh and lowers himself flush to the floor just as easily.

Hawk stares and a subconscious smile curls on one side of his lips. He doesn't take notice that Miguel sees him staring. So when Miguel says his name sharply, he looks up with a flinch, "My eyes are up here." Miguel says with a smile. "Get on the mat and keep stretching before Sensei comes out and makes you do a hundred push ups on your bruised knuckles."

"R-right. Sorry." Hawk says, walking around his boyfriend and sitting into the butterfly position. He forces himself to stares at the red mat. If he watched Miguel stretch, he just knew his mind would wander and - well, he didn't want anything to come to fruit from his perverse thoughts. 

Sitting on the bed, Hawk makes a double take when Miguel walks in the room shirtless from the shower. Miguel's put on a few pounds and whenever they worked out, seeing those muscles in action was just - really fucking hot. Hawk loved Miguel obviously, but he really couldn't keep his eyes or hands off him.

"What're you looking at?" Miguel laughs, slipping his arms through his shirt sleeves. 

"You." Hawk answers bluntly, eyes still raking over Miguel shamelessly. When Miguel scoffs and throws his dirty clothes at Hawk, all the teen does is shrug, "What? Can you blame me? You know I can barely keep off of you." When Miguel blushes and opens his mouth but stammers, Hawk throws the clothes on the floor, "Yeah that's what I thought. C'mere." He shifts forward, reaching out for Miguel's wrist and pulls him as he shifts back, laying them both down on the bed. 

With Miguel in his lap, Hawk sighs happily, settling comfortably in bed with an arm tucked behind his head. Biting his lip, he rests his free hand on Miguel's hip, "Where you wanna go out tonight?" 

"I thought we were staying in?" Miguel asks, trying not to fully sit on Hawk. He knew how heavy he was now.

"You kidding me? After today with the splits?" Hawk shakes his head, "No way." He notices how tense Miguel is and realizes he isn't actually comfortable. "Quit squirming," Hawk squeezes his hip, "I told you not to worry about crushing me. I like it." When Miguel relaxes his full weight, Hawk continues, "But yeah I gotta be honest, if we stay in tonight, I don't think I'll keep my hands to myself if you know what I mean."

Blushing again from Hawk's honesty, Miguel clears his throat, "Alright well uh, how about we go to um..." Miguel trails off, thinking of where they could go. The brushing of Hawks fingers distracts him, "Babe I can't think when you're doing that." He says.

"Sorry." Hawk mutters but continues to move his fingers like so. 

"I think that new rock climbing place is open now. We can go there and check it out." Miguel suggest, curling the bottom of Hawk's shirt with his hands.

"Place is like twenty-five each" Hawk argues lightly, moving his hand just above the waistband.

Miguel flinches at the touch, "Okay you're making this really hard -"

"Heh."

"Shut up. Do you wanna go or not?" Hawk is so tempted to say "or not", but instead he nods. Even though he knows seeing Miguel utilize his strength wouldn't help, it's a new adventure. "Alright let's go." Miguel dismounts off Hawk before he too has second thoughts about going out. 


	12. Just Wear It

When Hawk sees Miguel already fast asleep, Hawk quietly tip toes into the bathroom. He had to help close the theater tonight and would be back late, which was why his mom was okay with letting him spend the night. Good thing he had his own key to the house.

Getting ready for bed, Hawk sees the blue case on the bathroom counter. He paused brushing his teeth and opens it up. He sighs when he finds the retainer still inside. Finishing up he pull it out and flicks the light off and heads for the bed. 

Miguel groans, waking up a bit, "Hey," he says.

"Hey," Hawk whispers, "put this in." He holds the retainer up in the dark. Miguel squints harder and reaches blindly and grabs it, groaning when he knows what it is. "You need to wear it." He reminds him.

Miguel lazily pushes it on his mouth and flops back down. Hawk chuckles and slips under the covers to join, placing his arm around Miguel who scoots in close. 

  
They're at the family table reading their textbook online when Hawk hears the metallic clacking of Miguel's retainer. He flicks his eyes up md sees Miguel playing with it by popping it in and out. The sound wasn't annoying but, "Babe? You're gonna hurt yourself like you did the last time you played with it like that."

"No I won't," Miguel assures him.

"Okay...but you can dent the wire if you fuck with it too much." Hawk points out. Miguel groans in annoyance. "I'm just saying. They're not cheap. You wanna wear it for even longer?" The first time Miguel had to get a new retainer was because he loosened it so much from knocking it around so much. The second time was when he rubbed it against his inner cheek and gums so much, he festered a sore. 

"...no." Miguel grumbles, pouting a bit. 

"Then...stop being so rough with it." He says gently. "I know they're annoying. I flicked my tongue over the plastic parts." He shrugged, trying to help. Miguel appreciated it. He'd been slacking off with wearing the damn thing. And Eli was great keeping him on track.

Sliding it over his teeth, Miguel smiles, "Thanks." Hawk nods and gets back to reading, stretching his legs out to touch Miguel's under the table as they continue to study.


	13. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: omg I didn't add TW when I posted this I'm so sorry
> 
> TW include the following: homophobia, homophobic slurs & epithets
> 
> sorrysorrysorry

Moon was throwing another party at her house tonight. Anyone who wanted to come was kindly invited. And naturally Miguel showed up hand in hand with Hawk a few hours after the party had kicked off. They drifted through the crowd, chatting with a few of their classmates. And of course, they found their host to say hi. 

When they attended Moon’s parties in the beginning of their relationship, there was an obvious sense of awkwardness and unresolved conflict between them and their perspective exes. Although things between Miguel and Sam weren't exactly smoothed over, especially in regard about Sam's opinion about his boyfriend, at least Moon and Hawk worked things out. They were friends now and they were both happy for each other in their new relationships. 

A few short hours pass, and they found themselves a cozy little spot in the back over by the fire pit sharing a deep patio chair. A _club chair,_ Hawk had told Miguel. Rich people and their fancy deck furniture. He had Hawk comfortably in his lap, having a conversation with just them two as they nursed their solo cups full of beer. After Miguel’s incident with Sam a few years ago, he had be adamant about not drinking. But being with Hawk, he knew his boyfriend would cut him off if necessary. Hawk had developed quite a tolerance compared to Miguel who hardly served himself or finished his drinks. With a light ticklish buzz going, Miguel interrupts Hawk with an innocent kiss. And before they knew it, they were making out lazily.

As the crowd from the inside began to wander out into the back, no one really paid them any mind. Most couples at the party were doing the same throughout the house – if not in one of the many vacant bedrooms. Being surrounded by people and having Hawk like this to himself, Miguel didn’t think he would ever be able to make out with Hawk in front of anyone. He preferred to keep their intimacy to themselves behind the comfort of closed doors. Somewhere down the road in their relationship, they had built enough confidence in one another to the point where neither of them gave a shit about what anyone else thought about them or what they did.

The couple were too preoccupied with each other to notice the commotion over by the keg. Mostly the sound of pissed off people who had their beers and shots taken from them and verbal abuse retorted back at them. They certainly didn’t notice that the cause of it was heading their way.

“Ay yo, what the fuck?” Announces a familiar voice. “Ay! No one here wants to see that shit.” Hawk, a lot more sober than his boyfriend, recognizes the voice. He’s pulled out of his thoughts and sighs.

He turns around unsurprised to find Kyler just on the other side of the firepit. Rolling his eyes, he focuses on Miguel again, who complains from the abandoned attention with gentle squeezes and kisses to his neck. 

He hears Kyler groan in disgust as his friends beside him laugh. 

“Awe Kyler. Are you jealous that no one will make out with you? Here, you wanna kiss?” Miguel smooches at him. People around laugh at his tipsy comment, Hawk included, telling him he’s drunk. Miguel pinches two fingers together, indicating he was just a little bit drunk. “I’m just kidding babe,” Miguel whispers only for Hawk to hear, “my besitos are only for you.” He promises, sealing it with another peck on the lips.

Unamused, Kyler shoots back with, “I’d never be desperate to make out with a loser. Or a fuckin’ split lipped freak.”

“At least we’re not desperate to lying about hooking up.” Hawk is quick to say. Along with everyone else, he too heard the alleged rumors about LaRusso. How Kyler got a hummer from her in a movie theater, and a handjob at the Halloween party. It was all bullshit. 

Kyler shifts in his stance, shrugging in disinterest, “I’m just saying no one here wants to see a couple of fags making out n’ shit.” He says, earning a low and amused “oooh” from his friends.

Hawk sighs, “Kyler, the only one around here watching me and Miguel get hot n’ heavy is you. What? You like to watch?” Hawk eggs the other teen on, earning himself a couple of stifled laughs from everyone else. Hawk shrugs, “Why the fuck you care about what he and I do anyway? It has nothing to do with you or anyone else for that matter. But if you wanna watch, be my guest and enjoy the show.” He’s honestly not even mad that Kyler is trying to get a rise out of him or attempting to embarrass him in front of everyone – if he could even call the struggle an attempt.

Kyler’s face hardens at the remark, flexing his jaw in irritation seeing that Hawk is unnerved by his taunts when he goes back to cupping Miguel’s face and kissing him again. He can feel his blood boiling. Because Hawk was right, no one cared about it. No one was making a big deal about seeing them be so open about themselves and their now three-year running relationship. 

Seeing Miguel’s hand on Hawks thigh and moving up to his hip, taking lead as they kept kissing, Kyler scoffs at the ridiculous thought of who played what role. He smirks, “So who’s the bitch then? Bet it’s you, seeing that you’re in Ria’s lap n’ shit.” He laughs. When Hawk glares at him, Kyler takes that as a sign. “Oh shit, am I wrong? So is _he_ the bitch? Yo does he suck your dick real good?” He adds to insult toward Miguel. The crowd around them tenses up knowing how protective Hawk was. And rightly so. No way was Hawk going to let anyone disrespect Miguel. 

He calmly climbs out of Miguel’s lap, who grabs his hand, regaining Hawk’s attention, “Babe don’t,” Miguel tells him, “he’s not worth it.” All encounters involving Kyler were exhausting and overly cyclical. Miguel honestly wished for new material for Kyler to use instead of the old, tired routine of typical asshole-rly. 

Hawk smiles and bends down to give his boyfriend a kiss on his forehead, “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna flip out.” He assures him. Straightening up, Hawk turns back around to face Kyler, smirking in amusement.

“You seem awfully curious to know about that, Kyler. Who’s the girl, who’s the guy – all that heteronormative bullshit.” He steps in closer toward Kyler with his arms crossed, “Are you questioning?” He asks rhetorically and in mock curiosity. “It’s okay if you are. After all, this is a safe space.” He opens his arms to his sides. When he sees one of Kyler’s tics, Hawk continues to press on, “Oh, am I wrong? You just – wanna know how it works then? Who’s the top, bottom – for a better picture, right? For when you beat off later from not scoring?” He smirks, completely unbothered by what his words have probably caused. 

There was no way he would reveal details about him and Miguel. That was simply out of the common courtesy of respect for him. He would never risk that. Not to mention embarrassing. But this was just enough to really leave things to imagination. Because no one could handle the real thing.

The guys were nudging Kyler, “You just gonna take that shit?” They whispered, hoping that he would say something to put this freak back in check. Seeing Moon desperate for them not to fight, Kyler does remember something he can use to his advantage. “I mean, at least I don’t disappoint the ladies, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Literally none of us do,” Hawk sigh, growing bored.

“Don’t act like you don’t know,” Kyler nods his head over to Moon, “I wondered why things ended with y’all. Shit, I don’t even know  _ why  _ she went out with you in the first place. Must’ve been weird kissing that shit on your lip. I bet it sucked for her trying to pretend to like you. How pathetic.” Kyler smiles proudly when his boys ‘oooh, burn!’ from behind. Hawk works his jaw, shifting it from side to side out anger. No matter what, that kind of talk would always sting.

It was a no brainer to Miguel that Hawk was pissed. It was a low blow for sure. And looking over to Moon, who suddenly became part of this conversation, looked hurt. Miguel knew she still cared for him, and to see her share that same pain with him and Eli…well, it was unfair for Kyler to go on making assumptions for amusement and intention to cut someone with his words.

“Maybe she found out you were into dudes and she that’s why she left you.” Kyler added. It was a stupid thing to say since Moon discovered she was bi as well. And – none of the things he was saying were true to begin with. With this reminder, Hawk takes a deep breath and brushes it all under the rug.

Hawk puts his hands in his pockets, “Is that it? Anything else? You run out of stupid shit to say to us?” He asks Kyler. “Because if you’re done, I’d really like to get back to making out with Miguel before suggesting to him that we get out of here to continue our love affair at our usual spot overlooking the bluff.” Seeing that some sort of image has made Kyler grimace, Hawk leans in, “Seems you have enough imagination for what’ll happen then, huh?” He winks.

Tired of Hawk’s shit, Kyler rushes him but stops short, toe to toe and glaring each other down, “You wanna go?” Kyler growls, looking for a fight. The fact that this fucker didn’t flinch just now pisses him off even more.

Intrigued, Hawk raises his brows and licks his lips, “Yeah I do,” he says lowly, smiling, and unwavering from Kyler’s threat. 

Miguel sees someone forcing their way through the party and sees it’s Robby. When Miguel shakes his head and waves his hand not to interfere, Robby confirms it for himself, “You good man?”

“We’re good,” Hawk replies, keeping his sight on Kyler, “we’re kool and the gang here, bro.”

Moon too comes rushing behind Robby, finding the two about to fight. “Really guys?”

Miguel always soothed him when Kyler and his squad came around harassing them. No matter how many times he took the high road and ignored him or went to the school about it – even getting their parents involved – nothing good ever came of it. Though he struggled, Hawk had enough mercy in him to restrain himself, but more self-respect to not allow anyone to talk down to him _or_ Miguel as such. Hawk was going to show him that this so-called “faggot” wasn’t going to take his shit anymore. “What’s wrong Kyler?” he whispers, “You scared?” 

Kyler scoffs, “Of you? Yeah fucking right.”

“Let’s go then, pussy.” Hawk taunts. 

Kyler clenched his jaw in anger. He didn’t like how the kid with the lip wasn’t scared of him like before. He was cocky and always had some shit to say. Looking just past Moskowitz, he sees Miguel. He knows he can’t win a fight with him. And right now, he’s not sure if he’ll even jump in. Eyes back on Moskowitz, he smirks then shakes his head, turning as if he were disinterested. 

But Hawk knew better.

He saw the swing coming when Kyler whipped around quickly in an attempt to catch him off guard. Hawk grabs Kyler’s arm, jerking him forward and rearing his head back, colliding it against Kyler’s face, breaking his nose with a loud crack. When he lets go of him, Kyler stumbles back holding his blood dripping nose. Part of him wanted to mount him and plummet his fist repeatedly into his face until the other teen was gasping and choking on his own blood for all the times Kyler made his life a living hell. Hawk looks up at the other three and they know how this will play out and don’t attempt to step in. They had their asses handed by Miguel. They weren’t risking an invitation for him to join this kids side. 

Hawk turns around and walks over with his hand out to Miguel, “Let’s go.”

Miguel takes it and climbs out of the chair, “Y-yeah.” Hawks steps over him like used tissue. When Miguel steps around him instead, he looks down at Kyler and pities him. But for his sake, he’s glad Hawk _only_ head butted him.


End file.
